Our students / hardworking authors supplied plenty of inspiration for their own protagonists as well as for fellow-classmates.

Today we focused on the middle of everyone’s manuscripts. Why the middle?

Before I take on the role of the writer, I put on my reader’s hat. For me, reading a book is like going for a hike on a trail that I’ve never been on before. By looking at the signs at the trailhead, I know how long I would have to walk in order to get to the end . . . just as I know how many hours it would take to read a book by seeing the page count.

That hike I’ve started – the sign posts on the first half of the trail are clear and helpful. I know that if I follow the arrows, I will reach the end, and feel great as I always do after a “good” long walk.

I’ve started reading a book. The author hooks me from page one – sometimes that hook is the narrator’s voice/language, other times it’s the subject matter (a topic that I do relate to or one that I would like to know more about). By page 5 (oftentimes, even sooner) I know what the main character/protagonist wants or needs, and, I want to see what’s going to happen next. So I turn the page. I am in the story world.

The author had planted “sign posts” to guide me. Those sign posts are called “themes”.

By the middle of the book, that core theme/sign post better be there. If the story has stopped hooking me, I will put the book down and probably not open it again. (On my hike, if at midpoint the trail seems to have disappeared, the marker has fallen off its post, and I’m all alone . . . do I continue on? By the way, I am not interested in getting lost today. My dinner awaits me at home.)

Such is the task for an author – how to guide the reader with that core theme, scene after scene.

To the dear authors in our class,

That big sheet of paper that Mary gave you today? Tape the class handouts from Day 1 and Day 2 onto that sheet. Look at those aids every time you meet with your protagonist. And, ask your protagonist these questions: “Where are you today on your Hero’s Journey?” “What do you want ? … in this scene.”

Speaking of “scene” –

Writing Coach Teresa says: “A scene is a compilation of paragraphs that creates a “movie” in the Reader’s mind. Which means: action, dialogue, sensory details, and authentic details.

A sequence of scenes guides the Reader in your Story World, and, is a vehicle to show the Hero’s/Protagonist’s transformation. Go into scene whenever you want to show us what your protagonist is made of.

In real life, if someone says “I’ve changed. Take my word for it.” . . . wouldn’t you be thinking . . . Hmm…. I’ll believe it when I see it. Instead of telling us how your protagonist has grown, show us through scene, not through summaries.

Summary cannot spark the same emotional responses as a scene would . . . because summary either recaps what has happened or jumps over time in order to get to the next scene.

Their readers will surely stick by their protagonists and be there at the end of the book.

Cheering for YOU!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

on behalf of

May 2, 2015 Teresa LeYung-Ryan ( Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days – workbook; Love Made of Heart: a Daughter, a Mother, a Journey Through Mental Illness – novel) celebrates Independent Bookstore Day / California Bookstore Day with other local authors at Laurel Book Store, Oakland, CAhttp://WritingCoachTeresa.comandhttp://www.laurelbookstore.com

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.” –Maya Angelou, 1928-2014

Pursuing what we love doing is what is happening at the San Mateo County Fair June 7 to June 14, 2014, at monthly meetings, at open mic, and other events featuring or orchestrated by California Writers Clubmembers.

Teresa will be performing “What Am I Going to Do Now?” on the Literary Arts Stage at San Mateo County Fair; the 10-minute play isa new monologue (about a beyond-middle-age woman at a loss when her therapist is on vacation) from Teresa’s “Talking to My Dead Mom” series

Playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan reads her 10-minute monologue Answer Me Now at San Mateo County Fair--photo by Martin Shane Dowd

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s 10-minute monologue Answer Me Now (middle-aged woman asks her dead mother a question) is one of nine winning-plays to be produced by Redwood Writers & 6th Street Playhouse Play Festival.

Saturday, June 16, 2012 2:00-4:00pm Authors Day at the San Mateo County Fair in California.

the Literary Arts stage area in the Fine Arts Department at the fair.

Meet Teresa LeYung-Ryan (author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW and Love Made of Heart and Answer Me Now – her short play) and her colleagues at California Writers Club.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s 10-minute monologue Answer Me Now (middle-aged woman asks her dead mother a question) is one of nine winning-plays to be produced by Redwood Writers & 6th Street Playhouse Play Festival.

Join playwright, and radio host Kim McMillon for the free Writers’ workshop “Writers on Writing.” Award-winning Australian author and journalist Stephanie Dale will help authors find their inner voice as writers. Teresa LeYung-Ryan will speak on creating your writing platform and building your brand as a writer. Poet and composer Judith Cody discusses how to write for and publish an anthology; author and columnist Yolande Barial will demonstrate the importance of finding your passion, while author an educator Joan Gelfand will deconstruct the process of getting published. This workshop is for writers with a desire to find their voice, write, and promote their work. A reception and book-signing will follow the presentation.

“For writers who want to study the craft and for readers who love engaging stories and poems, the anthology Fault Zone: Words from the Edge fits the bill. How to entertain with humor, suspense, poignancy? All here. Bravissimo, California Writers Club authors and editors!” Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author, manuscript consultant, writing career coach

1346 Saratoga Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403

Expo Hall, Fine Arts Galleria, Literary Stage

Will There Be Fun Programs for Writers and Readers at the San Mateo County Fair?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Laurel Anne Hill and David Hirzel had led workshops this past weekend. You’ll see them again this weekend.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

5:00-6:00pm Audio-­book workshop with Kathy Garver!

Have you ever wondered how to find new markets for your writing project?
Do you want to find out more about how audio books are created?
Would you like to learn how to record the audio version of your book?

KATHY GARVER might be best known for her role as Cissy on the hit 60’s
TV show Family Affair, but she’s also an Audie Award winner for narrating books (An Audie is like the Oscar for audio narration).

Excerpts will be read from Kathy’s The Family Affair Cookbook. Visit Kathy’s website: www.kathygarver.com

6:00-7:00pm Author Anna Booth

7:00-8:00pm Pacifica Poetry Forum

8:00-9:00pm Green Tea Band musical act

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FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011 4:00-9:00pm (5 hours of fun)

(30 minute mini-workshops – 4:00pm; 4:30pm; 5:00pm; 5:30pm )

Creativity Mentor Mary E. Knippel

Free Family Fun for ages 10 and up!Let’s Play!

• unleash your creative side
• meet your inner artist
• catch yourself having fun
Mary E. Knippel, writer, Creativity Mentor, speaker and workshop leader, conducts workshops on California’s beautiful San Mateo coast in which participants connect with their creativity, focus on fun, and pursue play as a proven method to de-stress and cope with life’s challenges. Mary will help workshop participants discover the secret of journal writing along with experiencing the magic that happens when bits of paper are infused with imagination. http://www.coaxingcreativity.com

6:30-­8:00PM
THE SAN FRANCISCO/PENINSULA BRANCH OF THE CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB LAUNCHES THEIR ENDLESS SUMMER TOUR OF FAULT ZONE: WORDS FROM THE EDGE

4:00-5:00PM THE WOMEN ON WRITING “WOW” GROUP WILL PRESENT READINGS OF POETRY AND PROSE IMMEDIATELY AFTER BOOK DAY
WOW WOMEN ON WRITING, Skyline College, annually hosts Women on Writing (WOW), a festive literary event in early March that inspires creativity and celebrates community among writers and readers of all ages. Six dynamic WOW leaders will read original poetry and prose .
Participants include:
WOW founder Marijane Datson, coordinator Kathleen McClung, keynote speaker Li Miao Lovett, and ambassadors Georgia Gero, Lisa Melnick and Ellen Woods.

My apologies to those authors who were either added too late or did not respond in time for online PR.

“Speaking of angels, did I send you the link to my interview for Local Heroes? Aside from the 5 minute clip, there is a 20 minute version on YouTube where I discuss the pivotal night in my life when I was visited by an otherworldly woman bathed in white light.

BTW, had a meeting with the Patch editor yesterday. My “Healing Chronicles” column is back on!!!!!!! I so appreciate your efforts to help me and your blogging worked!!!”

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“Hi Teresa! I know how supportive you are of library programs. Here’s a article about how Wallenberg students kept the school library running with no librarian and have received such community recognition.”

By Bryan Lowry

SF Public Schools Examiner

Wallenberg Traditional High School is one of the smaller high schools in SFUSD with an enrollment of less than 700 students. By comparison Lowell High School holds over 2,600 students. Wallenberg’s tiny campus was once an elementary school before transforming into a high school in 1981 named after Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of thousands of European Jews during the Holocaust. Accordingly, the school’s maxim is: “One individual can make a difference.

For the past four years Logan Cai, a student currently in his senior year, has been proving the truth of that maxim. The school requires students to perform community service in order to graduate, but Logan’s service has far surpassed the minimum requirements. Among many other projects, Logan has been volunteering as the school’s librarian. His efforts have earned him the 2011 Jefferson Award for public service.

Budget shortfalls in 2009 caused SFUSD to lay off Kate Farrell, the school’s librarian, and cut her position from the school’s budget for the 2009-2010 school year. Wallenberg was on the verge of becoming a high school without a library until Ms. Farrell made a suggestion: let Logan run it. Logan and his partner Fanny Lau were founding members of the school’s Ravenous Readers Book Club and Ms. Farrell had trained them as library interns. When the budget crisis occurred she believed her interns were ready to take the reins.

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“The SF/Peninsula Branch of the California Writers Club will be stepping up to ensure that our Literary Stage at the San Mateo County Fair 2011 does not go dark this year. David Hirzel & Laurel Anne Hill will act as our Stage Coordinators. Other club members have offered to pick up the slack to produce various workshops, and to assure that the Second Annual Author Book Day go on without a hitch. Thank You CWC!!! Contact us right away if you want to help.”

8:00-9:00pm author Teresa LeYung-Ryan (past president of CWC-SF Peninsula Branch) uses Love Made of Heart to inspire adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and gain resources for their families. As Writing Career Coach Teresa, she helps fiction and nonfiction authors gain a competitive edge before and after publication with her workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days.

Visit Teresa’s blog at http://WritingCoachTeresa.com She is the sponsor for “The Immigrant Experience” Writing Contest and she hopes to meet the contestants at the fair.

Even if you missed the writing workshops and author presentations this weekend or can’t attend the upcoming ones, you can go to the presenters’ websites to check out their other events. Use search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) to find people & events.

2010 San Mateo County Fair, California

FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT STAGE SCHEDULE

Our stage is located in the Fiesta Hall

Try to park as close to Gate C (where the big white tent is) because that’s closest to Fiesta Hall (the second building from the south end of the fairgrounds)